Surprised
by Eliana Panthera
Summary: /'Ziva had been taught her whole life not to be surprised by anything.'/ This situation, though, was different. She had never been taught how to handle this. Kate/Ziva
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Surprised (1/1?)

**Genre: **Angst/Romance

**Rating: **T

**Pairing(s): **Kate/Ziva

**Character(s): **Ziva David

**Summary: **/'Ziva had been taught her whole life not to be surprised by anything.'/ This situation, though, was different. She had never been taught how to handle this.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned it, would I be writing fic for it? Most likely. But I don't own it, so there.

**Warnings: **Angst, angst, angst. And character death (or is it?)

**Author's Note: **See that little question mark after the second '1' up there? Yep, I might continue this. Or I might leave it like it is. I like it like this, but I could see it turning into an angsty two-shot or even a multi-chapter fic with a happy ending. It all depends I guess.

XXX

Ziva had been taught her whole life not to be surprised by anything.

So, the blaring car horns did not surprise her, no matter how loud or how sudden they were. She was used to the traffic of the DC area, and the car horns no longer made her jump. Not even when they sounded so close and so loud that she was sure that her ears would pop.

The sight of the other car speeding in the direction of her side of her Mini Cooper did not surprise her, either. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel and her muscles tensed painfully, but she was not surprised.

When the other car rammed into her own, she finally allowed herself to feel some sort of shock. Her senses heightened at the second of the contact, and she was painfully aware of everything around her. She could feel the metal of the car wrapping around her body like a tight cloak, trying to strangle her. Ziva could see the glass from the shattered window sticking into her skin, and each shard left another, different type of pain.

She heard a loud, strangled scream, and she was not sure who let it out. It could not have been her, could it? As far as Ziva knew, she did not scream like a caged animal with no hope of escape. But, she had never been in a situation quite like this before, so maybe it _was_ her screaming.

Her back hit the console, her left arm slamming harshly into the steering wheel just before the airbag deployed, pressing her against the seat. Agony clawed at her body as if someone were taking a knife to her flesh.

Ziva could hardly breathe, and when she did, it hurt so much that it brought tears to her eyes. She was almost positive that with each breath she took, her chest went the opposite way than it should have.

A throbbing, pounding pain pulsed through her body, the epicenters at her forehead and the arm that had hit the steering wheel. Blinking through the fog that clouded her brain and her eyes, Ziva managed to look at her arm. It was bent the wrong way, already turning a disgusting purple, obviously broken.

With trembling fingers, she felt her forehead. Blood soaked her fingertips, and she could feel it begin to run down her temples and stick her hair to her forehead like dark, sickening glue.

Instinctively, she reached for her backpack. It felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as she managed to get a grip on one of the straps. The place where it sat in the passenger seat seemed miles away, and Ziva could feel herself getting dizzier and weaker by the second.

She managed to drag the bag closer and unzip it. She fumbled blindly, blood from the cut on her forehead blocking her vision. Her hand was covered in nicks from the glass, and agony shot through it every time she touched something. But she ignored the pain until she felt what she was searching for.

It took all of her strength to pull it out and clutch it to her chest, wiping the blood from her eyes. She had grabbed the photo that she always kept with her, and studied it with eyes full of tears and blood.

They were standing in the sun in front of a tree in the park. Or _was_ it the park? Her thoughts were so jumbled that she honestly couldn't remember. Warm yellow sunlight bathed everything in an almost supernatural glow, making the grass seem so much more cheerful. Ziva was standing next to the person she loved more than anyone else in the world, arms wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her close. Kate was grinning so hugely it looked painful, cheek resting against Ziva's, arms slung casually over the Israeli's shoulders.

Back then, a few months ago, they had been so happy. Then they had had that huge, stupid fight about Kate's parents and each other. The Todd family had been less than happy when the two women came out, and when Ziva had tried to comfort Kate, telling her to ignore it for a while and they would come around, the older woman had gotten angry and yelled at her, telling her that she couldn't 'just ignore it.' Ziva had been ready to let her yell and get it all out until Kate had said 'that she wasn't an emotionless, soulless robot like Ziva so obviously was.' She had snapped and stormed out of the apartment that they had bought together seven months into their relationship.

A stupid fight was the main reason that Ziva was where she was at the moment, dying in the middle of DC traffic, blinded by headlights and deafened by sirens. She had been going back to her apartment to talk to Kate, to make up with her. She needed her. Ziva could not live without her.

She flipped the photograph over, studying the words written on the back in Kate's neat handwriting, _'I'm so sorry, Ziva._'

Everything spun and Ziva tried not to cry. More agony shot through her veins as she tilted her head to see the clock of her car. It had been two and a half minutes since the accident. Two and a half minutes that seemed so short to someone else, somewhere else, but so painfully long to her.

Her right hand went to the cup holder next to her, and she managed to grab a pen. With shaky, bloody fingers and a lack of clear vision, she managed to write under Kate's words, _'I love you.'_

Ziva would never be sure how legible her writing was, or if Kate would ever see it. Because at that moment, more blood filled her eyes and she felt the pen slip from her fingers. She managed to hold the photograph to her chest, too weak to grab the pen again or even wipe the blood from her face.

Suddenly, the agony disappeared. A blackness darker than the night filled her mind, and it was almost...calming. A few small white dots danced in front of her eyes, and she knew that this was it. She was not scared though. Ziva David was never scared.

She took one more shuddering breath into her lungs and whispered, "I love you so much, Kate."

Then everything disappeared into a peaceful oblivion.

**Reviews make my world go round, seriously.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Surprised (2/2)

**Genre: **Angst/Romance

**Rating: **T

**Pairing(s): **Kate/Ziva

**Character(s): **Kate Todd, Ziva David,

**Summary: **/'Ziva had been taught her whole life not to be surprised by anything.'/ This situation, though, was different. She had never been taught how to handle this.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own it, kk?

**Warnings: **Angst, angst, and even more angst. And character death.

**Author's Note: **This was originally an oneshot, but I decided to add another chapter, just to show Kate's POV. This chapter makes me sad, but this fic didn't seem like it could turn out being happy.

XXX

Kate Todd was broken.

Her hopes, her heart, her sanity, and every other part of her had shattered into millions of pieces and scattered around the hollow shell that she had become. In a matter of minutes, her life had gone from happy to cracked and mangled.

She was standing in the middle of the street, clad in pajamas and slippers, staring at a mangled car that had once been Ziva's. Mortified, she was fixated on the broken, twisted remains of the car. Kate knew just by looking that there was no way that Ziva could have survived…_that_.

Tears threatened to fall, prickling at Kate's eyes until they burned. She let them slide down her cheeks, unable to do anything to stop them. It was as if someone had frozen her in place, so she couldn't move. Kate was forced to stand there and watch with wide eyes, a slightly-open mouth, and a quickly-shattering heart.

The sirens from the ambulances pounded at her ears and leaked into her brain. Kate knew, deep down, that she would never be able to forget the sound of those damn sirens. They were burned into her consciousness.

Kate watched as the paramedics managed to pull Ziva's body from the wreckage of her car and lay her across a gurney. For a moment, one of the men worked on CPR, and Kate's stomach flipped as she watched him press repeatedly on Ziva's chest. One of the paramedics shook his head, and Kate sobbed, "No! Ziva…please!"

Ignoring the people who tried to pull her back, Kate pushed through everyone to stand beside the gurney. Time seemed to stand still as she looked at Ziva's body, small and battered-looking. The Israeli's face was cut and bruised, and blood stained her skin and caked her wounds.

Some of the paramedics tried to usher her away, but Kate ignored them. She instead stared at Ziva a few seconds longer before leaning down and kissing the younger woman on the lips.

Ziva tasted like blood and dust, like regret and sorrow. She tasted like all of Kate's worst nightmares and every comforting lullaby that she ever needed mashed into one. The sweet tinge of oranges and spice that was uniquely the Israeli's still adorned her lips, but it was overpowered by everything else. Ziva's lips were cold and Kate wanted nothing more than to warm them so they would kiss her back. But that would never happen again.

Breaking the kiss so she had time to breathe, Kate whispered, "Ziva, wake up. I love you, god dammit. Ziva, I love you. Wake up, please." Nothing happened, and Kate leaned down to kiss the other woman again. She misjudged and there, in the middle of the street and the flashing lights and wailing sirens, their teeth smashed together. Kate didn't care.

This time, she let the paramedics drag her away. They spoke to her with comforting expressions, but Kate didn't hear their words. She had just lost the person she loved more than anyone or anything else. Ziva David was dead.

One of the paramedics handed her a crumpled, dirty, bloody photo that they had found in Ziva's hands. Kate swallowed back tears when she saw it, and collapsed on to the pavement as a shudder passed through her body. The paramedics helped her to her feet, preparing to take her to the hospital because she was going through shock.

Kate sobbed as she stumbled along, holding the photograph to her chest. A barely-legible 'I love you' was scribbled on the back in Ziva's messy handwriting, and Kate knew that Ziva had made herself live long enough to write it. Ziva cared that much.

No matter what the paramedics did to her, Kate didn't let go of the photograph. She clutched it tightly to her body until she was allowed to return to their empty, bleak-feeling apartment.

Kate curled up in bed with the picture clutched against her chest and muttered over and over, "I love you, Ziva."

Kate Todd was broken, and no one would ever be able to put her back together.


End file.
